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  • From: Peter_Kirk AT sil.org
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu, ButhFam AT compuserve.com
  • Subject: Re: ayin
  • Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 17:11 -0500 (EST)



So what about the theory that there were two distinct pronunciations
of `ayin and two of Het in ancient Hebrew? As I understand it, one
pair was pharyngeal (pretend you are gargling to pronounce these) and
the other pair uvular (so rather like the Parisian French "r"). Thus
`ayin would correspond to both `eyn and gheyn in Arabic (they are
written and named as variants of the same letter), and Het to Arabic
Ha and kha (similarly differing only in a dot). Evidence for this in
Hebrew includes the transliteration of `ayin as gamma in LXX (and "g"
in English) in the names Gaza and Gomorrah - Gaza is spelt with gheyn
in Arabic. Thus `ayin and ghayin, Het and khet would, like sin and
shin, have been two letters written the same. Presumably by Masoretic
times the first two distinctions had been lost, and so no need was
seen to mark the distinctions. Some of them could be reconstructed
from Arabic and other parallels, e.g. to distinguish between roots
ayin-resh-bet: Hebrew `erev "evening" corresponds to Arabic gharb
"west", whereas Hebrew `arav "steppe-dwellers" (BDB) corresponds to
Arabic `arab "Arabs".

Is there anything in that theory? Are there any signs of such a
distinction being maintained in any modern pronunciation of Hebrew?

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: ayin
Author: ButhFam at CompuServe
Date: 30/12/1998 07:58


{george athas wrote}
>I always encourage people to pronounce their ayins as it was in antiquity.


i applaud. music to my ears.

voiced pharyngeal fricatives.

and let your Het's be voiceless pharyngeal fricatives
and not velar xaf's, -- Has veHalila!

these are usually distinguished in "mizraHi" israeli music for those so
inclined.

braxot,
randall buth

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  • ayin, yochanan bitan, 12/30/1998
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • Re: ayin, Peter_Kirk, 12/31/1998

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